the Tarragona as a principality, may originally have fought alongside Rotrou in Normandy and then followed him to Spain c.1123. Robert is first mentioned in a charter issued by Rotrou in Spain, in which the count granted some houses in Zaragoza to a knight of his named Sabino in gratitude for his services (December 1124). There is a slightly later reference which shows that Rotrou was in control of Tudela and that he had appointed Robert to act as his alcalde (mayor) or military commander of the citadel and one Duran Pixon to act as administrator (justiciar). This charter also affirms, against the Chronicle of San Juan, that Rotrou ruled Tudela as a vassal of Alfonso the Battler, who is called "emperor" in the document. Similar charters from February 1128 and November 1131 show that this arrangement continued for almost a decade, even though Rotrou was often absent in Normandy and Robert Burdet in Tarragona. When Alfonso granted fueros to Tudela in 1127 he also mentioned Rotrou, Robert and Duran. It has been suggested that Rotrou's rise to an important frontier post in a city in whose conquest he played no role was either recompense for the mistreatment he received in the first decade of the century or due to the deterrent effect of his private army of Normans on the neighbouring Muslims. In the winter of 1124–25, Rotrou led an expedition against the hilltop Muslim fortress of Peña Cadiella (Benicadell), which guarded the road from Alicante to Valencia. Since Muslim troops from Murcia often moved up this road to Valencia, it was of great strategic importance for any planned campaign in eastern al-Andalus. Rotrou's expedition, which had royal approval, may have been planned in conjunction with Alfonso's Andalusian expedition that took place in 1127–28. Rotrou was assisted in his endeavour by the Aragonese knights of the Confraternity of Belchite and their master, Galindo Sánchez. Rotrou returned to Normandy with his retinue in 1125, leaving Robert Burdet in command of Tudela (where he is attested in charters from 1126 through 1128). Rotrou did not participate in Alfonso's Andalusian campaign, and a rumour in Normandy claimed that Alfonso made his war out of envy for Rotrou's achievements. Rotrou returned to Alfonso the Battler in 1130, when he was at the Siege of Bayonne. On 26 October, from the siege, Alfonso granted the fuero previously given to Tudela to the small town